Saturday, January 28, 2006

Advancing the Kingdom: Men Wanted (part 1)

When you look closely at our men’s ministry at Morningside you will see: Men Connecting Relationally, Men Igniting Spiritually, and Men Battling Strategically. Those goals are set to reach a greater purpose, which is to Advance the Kingdom of God.

Advancing the kingdom is our purpose, because Jesus Christ referred to His mission with that metaphor more than any other. Jesus began his advance declaring “I have come to build a kingdom!” He introduced His purpose using a masculine term. Then He called men, first, to join Him on that adventure. He called men, because God has put into the hearts of men a desire to do great things.

For the most part, churches have lost the final image the world will see of Christ. Revelation 19 describes Christ (and his followers) as a warrior -- the King is returning to reclaim what Evil had stolen. There are volumes of statistics to confirm that Christ’s church has lost the interest of men. Somewhere along the road His church hit a tipping point. Following Jesus meant becoming a passive and gentle “lover” only. Somewhere along the road -- His church became a place that repelled the masculine image Jesus so clearly established. Somewhere along the road -- Christ’s church “laid down the sword and picked up a daisy.” Theologians may not have recognized this -- men did -- and they left.

Our men’s ministry is just that -- it is men’s ministry. It is not women’s ministry for men. We do masculine things, because we are fighting for the hearts of men. We are helping men discover the hearts God gave them. Men are answering His call to follow him! God is advancing His agenda. When men think of being a Christ-follower, we want them to go back to that metaphor -- God calling men specifically -- to lead the charge in Advancing the Kingdom